The unique desert exhibition Forever Is Now 03, located at the legendary Pyramids of Giza, features the work of Egyptian and international contemporary artists.
This annual flagship event of Art D'Égypte, a company founded by French-Egyptian curator Nadine Abdel Ghaffar with the aim to support Egyptian arts and cultural initiatives, is intended to connect the art of Egypt’s past with that of the 21st century. As the first and only contemporary art exhibition to take place at the UNESCO World Heritage site, the experience offers visitors the chance to simultaneously explore the ancient and the modern. ‘Hope and faith are anchored within our knowledge of the past and in the unwavering belief that there is no conception of the future without history,’ note the curators. ‘We look at the narrative of past achievements to find inspiration for successive generations.’
Forever Is Now 03 brings together fourteen artists – Arne Quinze, Arthur Lescher, Azza Al-Qubaisi, Carol Feuerman, Dionysios, Costas Varotsos, JR, Stephan Breuer, Mohamed Banawy, Pilar Zeta, Rashid Al Khalifa, Rashed Al Shashai, Sabine Marcelis and Sam Shendi – whose geometric and sculptural installations interact with the pyramid backdrop and its surrounding desert plateau in a unique way.
For example, Greek artist Costas Varotsos’s ‘Horizon’ focuses on the relationship between the Nile River and the Giza plateau, emphasising its significance in world history. Eight ‘celestial domes’ express the cycle of life, while the geometric shape of the circle relates to the engineering and history of the pyramids themselves: ‘For me, the horizon has always been a prediction of the future, towards something coming, defining the concept of the horizon in space, but at the same time determining the position toward life,’ writes Varotsos.
Dutch artist Sabine Marcelis’s ‘Ra’ installation, meanwhile, is a vibrant monolith inspired by the sun. As the birthplace of the sundial, the site holds particular resonance regarding the transformation of sun into energy and power, which Marcelis captures in a way that pays respect to ancient Egyptian culture and its reverence for the sun god Ra.
The exhibition runs until 18 November 2023.
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